Thaksin’s Cambodian Gambit  

Oleh:

Phongpaichit, Pasuk ; Baker, Chris

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Far Eastern Economic Review vol. 172 no. 10 (Dec. 2009), page 18.
Topik: Thaksin Shinawatra; Cambodia; The Khmer; Thailand

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: FF21.22 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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Isi artikel

Thaksin Shinawatra's appointment as an economic adviser to Cambodia and his short visit to Phnom Penh to convey his thanks to Hun Sen have revived Thailand's political divisions with a vengeance. In November, the royalist Yellow Shirts staged their most prominent rally in almost a year. The pro-Thaksin Red Shirts announced a series of rallies to fell the government. At the Yellow Shirt gathering, a speaker called for the beheading of Hun Sen, Thaksin Shinawatra and ex-premier Chavalit Yongchaiyuth. Strikingly, the reactions to Mr. Thaksin's Cambodian gambit among the press and political commentators were painted in a palette of only black and white. The anti-Thaksin camp howled that he was guilty of treason for assisting an enemy country, and also guilty of lèse majesté for remarks about the royal succession in an interview with The Times. Thaksin boosters portrayed the visit to Cambodia as a brilliant maneuver by the fugitive former prime minister to regain prominence. In reality, these events are shrouded in murky shades of grey. But few want to see it that way. The Yellow Shirts lost support after the closure of two Bangkok airports in November 2008 and lost momentum when the pro-Thaksin government was felled immediately after. The attempted assassination in April of Sondhi Limthongkul, the movement's most popular and provocative orator, prompted speculation that establishment patrons had decided the movement had outlived its usefulness. Then there was internal disagreement over the proposal to found a new political party, and some sense of anticlimax when the New Politics Party was launched in June with a caretaker leader who had limited appeal to the movement's core middle-class audience. By mid-2009, the profits of Mr. Sondhi's media empire, which depended heavily on Yellow Shirt fervor, were reportedly declining. After much hesitation, Mr. Sondhi decided to take the helm at the New Politics Party.

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